Railway Man tops Inglis Digital
The Inglis Digital March Early sale ended on Wednesday with 275 lots sold for $3.6 million with 3-year-old colt Railway Man (I Am Invincible) topping the sale at $210,000 bought by Pure Bloodstock, and he will head to Hong Kong. “He will have a little spell in Australia first and head up to Hong Kong in July or August,” Ben Kwan told Inglis Digital in a press release.
“I introduced this horse to my client when I saw him on Inglis Digital last week and he went and looked at the pedigree and his form and decided he wanted to buy the horse, he gave me a budget to bid with and he’s so happy that he will now race the horse himself.
Railway Man | Image courtesy of Inglis
“We think he will be a very good horse in Hong Kong. We enjoy buying off Inglis Digital because we have had luck in the past with horses such as Sing Dragon and Excellence Value, which have both won in Hong Kong, so we are big supporters of the platform.” The former $2.5 million colt will be gelded before he heads to Hong Kong.
The second top lot was the broodmare Tiempe Passate (I Am Invincible) – in foal to Ozzmosis – which sold to Matthew Blundell’s Racing And Breeding for $200,000. Eight horses made $100,000 or more.
I Wish I Win retired
Waikato Stud announced the retirement of their Group 1-winning gelding I Wish I Win (NZ) (Savabeel) on Wednesday. “We’ll always do what’s best for the horse,” said stud principal Mark Chittick in a press release.
“This decision wasn’t easy but on the advice of Peter and Katherine, we all felt the time was right for Wishy to hang up the reins. He will come home and have a paddock right outside our house for the rest of his days. He will be looked after like a king, because he is one.
“You don’t have a horse like this, an experience like this without so many people helping. It wouldn’t have happened without out the staff here, Jamie and Chanel Beatson who broke him in, Jamie Richards (first trainer), of course Moods and Katherine and all the jockeys who looked after him so well. And especially to Gio Spiga, his strapper, for his special care and attention. We have loved it and I wish I could go on, but the horse comes first. So, he is coming home.”
I Wish I Win won seven of his 25 starts and over $12 million. A winner on debut at two, he ran second in the G1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes at his second start. From there he ran largely in stakes company, picking up a big pay cheque when he won the 2022 Golden Eagle, and then the 2023 G1 TJ Smith Stakes before adding the 2024 G1 Kingsford Smith Cup.
Skyhook to use Pago Pago for Slipper entry
Co-trainer Sterling Alexiou needs juvenile colt Skyhook (Written Tycoon) to win Saturday’s G3 Pago Pago Stakes to sneak into the G1 Golden Slipper field, after he ran second to Rivellino (Too Darn Hot {GB}) in the G2 Skyline Stakes. “If he’d have got that run when it was there, prior to Adam (Hyeronimus on Shaggy) rolling in, I suspect he wins that race nine-times out of ten,” Alexiou told racingnsw.com.au.
“For a horse that had had one start leading into that and one trial, he lost his momentum and balance and picked himself up and regained composure, and still finished off as well as anything in the race, it augurs well for a handy future. We were hoping going into the Skyline the other day we wouldn’t have to be in the position we are now.”
Too Sweet heads to Sires’ Produce
Roydon Bergerson will take Too Sweet (NZ) (Satono Aladdin {Jpn}) to the G1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes despite being scratched from the G1 Sistema Stakes. “She just had such a tough run, drawn the outside and racing five-wide the whole way,” Bergerson told Loveracing.nz of her last start 11th in the R. Listed Karaka 2YO Millions.
“Following that, we decided to give her a quick spell and aim at the Sires’, as we did with Wolverine. She didn’t go to the Sistema either. She’s done really well in the meantime and has come back looking amazing really.”
Too Sweet (NZ) | Image courtesy of Kenton Wright (Race Images)
She trialled on Tuesday. “Lily (Sutherland) said she trialled better yesterday than two weeks before, she just ran out of puff there at Waipuk. She’s pulled up super and licked the bowl last night. I’ll probably take her to the races in between now and the Sires’ for an exhibition gallop to keep her up to the mark, she hasn’t raced for a while. I couldn’t be happier with her.”
Amelia’s Jewel has big weight in Coolmore Classic
Amelia’s Jewel (Siyouni {Fr}) has been given a hefty 58kg for Saturday’s G1 Coolmore Classic, more than any winner since Sunline (NZ) (Desert Sun {GB}) carried 60kg in 2000 and 2002. “She will be giving weight away to some nice up and coming fillies and mares, it’s never easy to carry top weight, but she’s certainly the class horse of the field and it’s nice to be going there off the back of a win,” co-trainer Annabel Neasham told racingnsw.com.au.
Amelia's Jewel | Image courtesy of Sportpix
“She’s not normally a leader but they gifted her the lead the other day, not sure they’ll do the same again. It’s all tempo related, just ride her where she’s happy. She’s got a great turn of foot. She ended up being ridden closer with the blinkers on at the end of last prep down in Melbourne, we’ve left them off for now. The main thing is just having her in her rhythm.”
Lady Shenandoah skips easier option for Coolmore Classic
Trainer Chris Waller will send boom 3-year-old filly Lady Shenandoah (Snitzel) around in Saturday’s G1 Coolmore Classic rather than the percieved easier option of the G2 Phar Lap Stakes. Lady Shenandoah has drawn wide.
Kanga to shout the bar if Jenni wins
Melbourne Racing Club Chairman John Kanga has promised to shout the bar at Caulfield if Horse Of The Year Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai) wins on Saturday. “Pride Of Jenni has captured the hearts of racing fans with her performances and this is a way to add to the excitement on Saturday,” Kanga told racing.com.
“It's a great way for the MRC to engage with racegoers and create a fantastic atmosphere at the track. She is the people's horse and reigning horse of the year. It will cover beer and wine, sparkling, ensuring everyone can join in the celebration.”
Birchley’s hoping for better luck in Jewel
Trainer Liam Birchley will run 2-year-old gelding Betterlucknexttime (Zousain) in Saturday’s QTIS 2YO Jewel. “I really liked his last 100 metres in the Prelude so I think he will like the 1200 metres and the extra distance in the Jewel,” Birchley told racingqueensland.com.au.
Betterlucknexttime | Image courtesy of Trackside Photography
“I will make a minor gear change for him, he lost a bit of focus mid-race so I will probably put the winkers on him for his next start. He has been set for the Jewel so the plan was always to have him improving in to it. I think his last run was good under the weight conditions, and he is going to drop a few kilograms on Saturday. I think he will be very well-placed.”
Around the nation: Wednesday’s other highlights
With Doomben abandoned and a storm delaying Sandown eventually resulting in the last three on the card being abandoned, there were a few notable moments on Wednesday around the nation. At Wyong, 3-year-old filly Piperita (Pierata) won at her third start, having been beaten by stakes winner Lilac (Justify {USA}) and Group 1 winner El Castello (Castelvecchio) in her first and second starts respectively.
At Eagle Farm, Tony Gollan trained four winners with all of them being 4-year-olds including two by Spirit Of Boom, who were Woosh Ka Boom and Try Everything.
US$1 million Maxfield colt tops OBS 2-year-olds
The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training opened Tuesday with a colt from the first crop of Grade I winner Maxfield (USA) (hip 119) leading the way when selling for US$1 million (AU$1.6 million) to Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida. The colt was consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables.
At the end of the session, 117 juveniles had sold for US$15,902,000 (AU$25 million) for an average of US$135,915 (AU$216,000) and a median of US$85,000 (AU$135,000) up from US$73,500 (AU$117,000) last year. “We're pleased to see that the average and median were up,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “The good news is we still have two days of some really nice horses to sell. It's kind of hard to compare session to session, year to year. But it was a good start and we look forward to more good horses tomorrow and the next day.”
Lot 199 - Maxfield x Eyeinthesky (colt) | Image courtesy of Ocala Breeders' Sales
“I think that, (the US$1 million colt) aside, there is tremendous value here,” Wavertree Stables’ Ciaran Dunne said. “And I don't mean this to disrespect anybody, but we've gotten so statistical and so analytical with our numbers, and our gallop-outs and our stride-lengths that they've eliminated 80 per cent of the catalogue before they even start to look at them. At the end of the day, the great horsemen through the ages, be it (D. Wayne) Lukas, or (Bob) Baffert, they bought on instinct. That's something that we can't ever lose sight of. Yes, it's an intangible and it's sometimes hard to sell. But the great horsemen have it. And I get it. It's a performance-based sale. But there are so many factors that go into that performance. And I think the guys who are willing to think outside the box are the guys who are going to do well in the end. Because the guys who are pigeon-holing themselves into statistics are always going to have to overpay because everybody has the same statistics.”
Vale Andre Lynch
Andre Lynch died on Tuesday morning after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 52. The news was announced on social media Tuesday morning by Paramount Sales's Lesley Campion, who created a GoFundMe for Lynch in February to support his palliative care and to create a fund for his two young daughters, Emma, 8, and Catherine, 4.
In a statement to the TDN, Campion said: “In the early hours of March 11, in the University of Kentucky Hospice, Andre Lynch passed away peacefully, safe in the love and comfort of his adoring mother Eileen. Andre has left a wonderful legacy of two beautiful daughters in Emma and Catherine. They will come to know of the enormous and well-earned respect and love that his many friends had for Andre's kindness, decency, hard work and horsemanship. His mark on the Thoroughbred industry across America will live on. He will be dearly missed by his sister Raissa, his brother Jonathan, sister-in-law Anne and their children Eoin, Edel, and Louise. He will be forever remembered by his aunt Noreen and his childhood mentor, his uncle Bill Maher and family as well as the Hoft family.”
